London – A police community support officer has been suspended after colleagues accused him of making Nazi salutes at work.
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Paul Ryan has been ordered to stay at home after allegedly impersonating Adolf Hitler while on duty.
The claims are now being investigated by the Metropolitan Police.
Ryan is alleged to have begun goose-stepping and making Nazi salutes in the North London office of the Swiss Cottage Safer Neighbourhoods Team during a conversation about Germans.
Spokesman Mark Gardener said: ‘Obviously we would thank the police for their prompt action, and voice extreme concern at the suitability of this police officer.
‘This kind of action would cause offence, not only to Jewish people, but many others as well. ‘We would be extremely concerned at any police officer making fun of Nazism.’
Swiss Cottage Councillor Don Williams said: ‘This is only an allegation, so it has to be investigated and no one is proven guilty.
But Trudy Gold, chief executive of the London Jewish Cultural Centre, cautioned against making ‘politically correct’ assumptions about the alleged incident.
She said: ‘It all depends on the context. If it was meant as humor, it is probably in bad taste – but is Monty Python funny? Is Mel Brooks funny when he does the dancing and singing Hitlers in The Producers? ‘It comes down to the question of whether we can make fun of evil.’
She added: ‘It is a difficult area but I wouldn’t want to condemn him as evil for making a Hitler salute until we know the context – if he is a card-carrying member of the BNP, for example.’
Oy Gevalt politically correct police.
If its humor – poking fun at Nazis that’s GOOD – ever hear of Hogans Heros (when TV was kosher).
If he is a closet Nazi – prosecute him if possible.
Hogan’s Heros was Not without its detractors, and cotroversy when it came out, and the star (Bob Crane) did die a somewhat mysterious death in real life. My dad who fought the Nazis in World War 2 liked the show. Others did not.
Personally I still watch it, as it is on the Network “TV Land”, in fact the reruns are on several times per week.
Some of the main actors in Hogan’s Heroes were Jews who had been through the camps, they agreed to be germans on the show ONLY if the germans were portrayed as stupid. as indeed they were.